Jack Skellington's Halloweentown Treat
by bluethunder25
Summary: Halloween is vastly approaching and Jack Skellington, bored and frustrated with the same ole' tricks and treats, seeks a way to improve the spooky holiday. Upon seeking inspiration, he discovers the secret may lie in the delicious, candy-coated treats enjoyed by trick-or-treaters every year.
1. Something New

When it came to Halloweentown, there was never an off day. Since their last Halloween, the citizens had been planning long and hard in anticipation of this year's festivities. However, although it seemed as though this year's Halloween was looking to be something special, one citizen in particular didn't quite have the same level of enthusiasm as the rest. And that citizen was none other than Jack Skellington; the Pumpkin King.

Jack of course dedicated himself to making sure that every single Halloween would be one to remember. But this year, it seemed like there was no inspiration. As he sauntered through Halloweentown, observing the citizens gleefully preparing for the holiday, he found himself growing more and more depressed.

The witches were preparing what looked like a big barrel for bobbing for apples which the werewolf popped out of, scaring them; much to their delight.

The father of the corpse family opened a can to find bunch of snakes slithering out of it. Turned out they were from the monster with snakes for fingers who had given him the can in the first place.

The vampires called real bats to hang upside down as Halloween decorations.

As for the mayor, he was supervising the hauling of the pumpkins. One pumpkin ended up rolling towards him, causing him to roll on the pumpkin.

Indeed it seemed as though everything was going as planned; as far as Jack was concerned, maybe too 'as planned.' Wanting to relieve his depression, he decided to head on home.

Jack's trusty ghost dog, Zero, happily greeted him after he arrived. Unfortunately, Jack didn't return the sentiments as he sulked on his desk. Zero hovered towards him to find out what was wrong. It seemed as though Jack was in a bit of a trance. It wasn't until he gave a loud bark that Jack finally noticed him.

"Oh! Sorry, Zero. My skull is just aching trying to think of something new for Halloween this year," said Jack.

The Pumpkin King racked his nonexistent brain trying to come up with something. It felt as if he was losing his mojo as he just couldn't think of anything. so he figured maybe the answer would be in one of his books. However, the result was just the same. He looked through everything; from jack-o-lantern designs, to Jump Scares 101, How to Terrify a Muscular Guy in Five Minutes or Less; but nothing worked. He had read these books hundreds and hundreds of times and nothing in them was anything new to him.

On top of that, he had pretty much used up his best ideas on 300 previous Halloweens. It seemed as though the frustrated king of Halloween was at the end of his rope; which was ironic considering he was already dead.

Just then, Jack, who had slammed his head on his desk in frustration, heard a knocking on his door. "Come in!" he said.

It was Jack's girlfriend, Sally, coming in for a visit.

Sally's presence helped to relieve some of the angst Jack was feeling in his bones.

"Jack? Are you alright?" Sally asked.

Jack slowly arose from his seat with drooping eyes directed towards the innocent rag doll. "Oh, Sally. Another Halloween is coming and I have nothing," he said.

'What do you mean? From I've seen, this year's Halloween looks pretty good," said Sally.

"Yes, 'pretty good,' but not 'stupendous' good, not 'earthshattering' good, not 'make your eyeballs pop out of your head and make you scream so loud that your vocal chords explode' good," said Jack.

"Oh, I'm...sure we've got something like that. Dr. Finklestein is working something really bone-chilling and terrifying..." said Sally.

"Really? What is it?" asked Jack.

"Tap dancing skeletons!" said Sally.

Jack groaned in disappointment. He didn't want this Halloween to be predictable, he yearned for something new and exciting. Something to really keep the kids talking; something they had never seen before.

Sally understood where Jack was coming from and upon seeing his disappointment, she suggested that he try to look around the Magic Kingdom for his inspiration.

"Splendid idea, Sally! Come along Zero! We've got inspiration to find!" Jack exclaimed after he gave Sally a kiss on the cheek.

Meanwhile, Sally hurried back to Dr. Finklestein's lab, not wanting to keep him waiting; for he had a chocolate chip and fungus cookie recipe he wanted her to try.

* * *

The bright yellow eyes of jack-o-lanterns filled the windows of Main Street; plastic bats; skeletons and ghosts were decorated on the trees and walls; and children and adults alike were adorned in all kinds of unique costumes. As always, the Magic Kingdom was not shy about its Halloween festivities.

As the Pumpkin King arrived and looked around, he figured there was probably something here that could give him new ideas. Just then, he was approached by the wicked queen in her hag form, carrying a large barrel.

"Good evening, Jack!" the witch said.

Jack looked at the barrel and saw a bunch of apples inside. "Bobbing for apples? So cliché." he said.

"But these are poisoned apples," said the witch.

Curious, Jack took out an apple and took a bite, falling asleep. The witch laughed in glee, but her laughter was soon cut short as Jack quickly got up, looking unimpressed.

"Doesn't seem like anything special to me," said Jack, throwing the apple to the ground and walking off.

As Jack walked further into Main Street, unbeknown to him, he was spotted by Donald Duck, dressed as the creature from the black lagoon, spying on him from a tree.

"Oh boy! Jack's here. I'm gonna scare him with my costume, HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" Donald said.

He slowly crept from behind, making sure that Jack did not see him, getting closer and closer until...he tapped Jack on the shoulder. When Jack turned around, Donald attempted to scare him, but the Pumpkin King wasn't even phased.

"Not a bad scary face, but try this one out for size," Jack said before he made a terrifying face that sent Donald fleeing straight out of his costume and feathers.

Continuing on, Jack observed the many kids and adults in their costumes; from ghosts to goblins; monsters, demons, cowboys, princesses, and bank accountants; Jack thought that maybe the costumes could help him. But alas, not an inspirational thought came to his mind.

Not the costumes, the decorations, or even the Halloweeny music was enough to fill Jack's skull with ideas. It looked as though it was a hopeless cause as Jack turned to make his way out of Main Street.

However, as he passed a store, he noticed something interesting. He looked through the window and found a group of kids and adults buying as much candy as they could. Just barely hearing the conversations, he pressed he skull to the window.

"Nice work, honey! I tell ya, there's nothing better on Halloween than candy!" a man dressed as a werewolf said to his wife dressed as a billy goat.

"The trick-or-treaters will love these chocolate crunch bars!" said another man.

Outside, said trick-or-treaters were anxiously talking about how much candy they would rack up this year.

Jack looked again into the shop, observing the many candies and the people desperately trying to get as much as they could get their hands on. Then his thoughts came Lock, Shock, and Barrel; and how ever year, they would often play tricks to take others candy. At that moment, it had happened, Jack Skellington had found it, he had found his inspiration.

"HAHA! That's it, Zero! THAT'S IT!" exclaimed Jack.

With that, Jack, along with Zero, rushed back to Halloween Town.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Dr. Finklestien's lab, Sally had 'tried' about 30 of the doctor's cookies. Secretly, she fed them to his assistant, Igor.

"I'm so glad you like the cookie, Sally. These will be a big hit at Mickey's party," said Finklestien.

"I'm sure they will be," Sally said.

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the doctor's door.

"The door is open!" Finklestien said.

It was Jack who came rushing into the doctor lab like a house of fire.

"Doctor! Have I got a project for you!" Jack exclaimed.

"What kind of project?" asked Finklestien.

"I have been racking my skull, trying to find something, anything, to really shake this year's Halloween up!" said Jack.

"Well what about my tap dancing skeletons?" Finklestien asked, showing Jack the skeletons.

"That's all fine and good, but what I have in store will make all our previous Halloweens look like child's play!" said Jack.

The doctor was intrigued, but Sally was a bit weary. She knew Jack had a creative mind, but more often than not, his ideas tended to go a bit overboard. Nonetheless, she kept an open mind as always when it came to Jack.

Reaching into his coat, Jack pulled out a piece of candy corn. Sally and Finklestien were confused as Jack eyed the piece of candy with a sinister smile on his face. They could only imagine what was going through the complex mind of the Pumpkin King.


	2. Halloween Surprises

Dr. Finklestien and Sally's eyes widened with shock at the revelation of Jack's plan.

"You want to make candy...ALIVE?!" said Finklestein.

"Yes! Wonderful idea, isn't it!?" exclaimed Jack.

Of all Jack's previous ideas, this one really came out of the park. The idea of actually bringing candy to life was indeed one that had never been heard of.

"Hmmm, I've worked on exploding pumpkins and bringing Christmas wreaths to life, but this is quite an undertaking if I do say so myself," said Finklestien.

"Do you think you can pull it off, Doctor?" asked Jack.

"Well, it will take some time, planning, effort, and plenty of chocolate and nuts, but I think I should manage to make it work," said Finklestien.

"Fantastic!" exclaimed Jack.

Sally was happy to see a smile on Jack's face again, but at the same time, she was a bit weary as she approached him. "Um, Jack. Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"Of course! Who else would have the brains to think up something like this?! And I don't even have a brain!" said Jack.

"But I'm going to need a lot of candy for something like this," said Finklestien.

"I'll inform the mayor and have everyone in Halloween Town gather as much sweet treats as they can!" said Jack.

"Good! I'll get the experiments ready," said Finklestien before he rolled off.

Jack felt an exciting tingling in his bones that he hadn't felt since the first time he entered Christmas Town.

Though Sally was still a bit worried, she didn't want to see Jack disappointed. So for the time being, she figured it would be best to just let things play out. Who knows? Maybe things would turn out for the better. She could only hope.

* * *

At the mayor's request, all the resident of Halloween Town made their way to Main Street and took all the candy the could from the various shops and stores; chocolate bars, lollipops, twizzlers, and butterfingers; no treat was left unturned, no sweet left unchecked. With their candy in hand, the residents hurried back to Halloween Town.

But not before one of the citizens noticed a kid in a bunny costume.

"BUNNY!" he shouted, scaring the kid away.

* * *

For something like this, Dr. Finklestien realized it would take more than just science, it would also require a bit of magic, which is why he turned to the aid of the witches for assistance.

As the residents piled on the chocolate bars, candy corn, and all the trimmings in a pile, the witches began brewing a potion.

"Eye of newt, tail of rat, legs of spiders and tail of cat," the witches throwing said ingredients into the potion.

Meanwhile, the doctor and Jack were talking about the plans for when the candy came to life. The pumpkin king many ideas such as having the candy dance, or even scaring children. He was just so excited that his bones were tingling.

The witches were done making the potion and Finklestien called on Igor to bring cauldron up to his machine.

On command Igor brought the cauldron up a ladder over a vat shaped tube that the doctor had designed and poured the potion into it.

"Good work, Igor," said Finklestien.

Igor rushed to the doctor and panted like a dog. Finklestien responded by giving him a dog treat.

As Sally looked on with worry, Jack came over and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Oh, Sally, this is it. Soon, the people of the Magic Kingdom are going to experience a Halloween treat they'll never forget," Jack said.

Finklestien placed a piece of candy corn on a stone table, then walked up to a large lever next to the vat and pulled it down. As light flashed in the lab, Jack and Sally watched as the potion made it way down through a series of tubes, twisting and turning until a tiny drop poured out onto the candy corn.

"Live, live, LIVE!" said Finklestien.

Finally, it was done.

"Good job Igor!" exclaimed Finklestien. "That flashing light bulb was giving me a headache."

As for the candy corn, it started to bulge and grow, much to the shock of the widened eyes of Jack, Sally, and Finklestien.

"By Gracy, Doctor, you have DONE IT!" exclaimed Jack.

The experiment was a success and now it was time for the rest.

* * *

Soon, another Halloween befell the Magic Kingdom. As the crisp leafs blew through the starry moonlit sky, dozens upon of trick-or-treaters in costumes filled the streets of Main Street with bags in hand, read to stock on as much candy as they could carry.

But as the kids and adults alike prepared themselves, they were suddenly stopped by the sound of a horn coming in the distance.

It was coming from the mayor's car, with Jack standing on top as the mayor talked out of his intercom.

"Attention all citizens of Main Street! At this time, please welcome the Master of Horrors, the Sultan of Spooks, the Caretaker of Creepiness, the one, the only, the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington!" the mayor announced.

Jack soaked in the applause from the crowd, taking in a bow before he jumped off the car.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Ladies, gentlemen and assorted trick-or-treaters alike," he began. "Tonight, I, Jack Skellington, present to you a frightful feat that has never been done before. A Halloween marvel that is sure to have you talking-and screaming-for many Halloweens to come."

The crowd gathered with bated breath in anticipation what Jack was planning to unveil, especially the kids.

Skellington snapped his fingers and then motioned his hand towards the back of the car.

The crowd looked. One kid in a skeleton costume could see a bunch of silhouettes slowly creeping from out the shadows. Just then, the crowd jumped as an object from the shadows was thrown out. The skeleton kid examined the object.

"Candy corn? Heh! What's so scary about that?!" the kid said before he was about to eat the candy corn.

But as he opened his mouth, a shadow engulfed him. He looked up and to his horror, as well as the rest of the crowd, his eyes laid upon the sight of a living, breathing, candy corn creature. The kid screamed in terror, running into his mother's arms. The crowd started to shiver in fear as well. But there was more to come.

Varieties of candy creatures and monsters appeared before the crowd.

Lollipop creatures with sharp teeth bounced around; chocolate blobs slithered through the streets, slobbering sourballs, taffy snakes, peanut-coated chocolate monsters, and nougat demons; every kind of candy you could imagine brought to life before their eyes.

Indeed the crowd had never witnessed anything like this before in past Halloweens. Their emotions ranged from shock, to terror, to utter amazement.

The various candy creatures swarmed around Main Street and soon the Magic Kingdom.

Jack Skellington smiled in glee as his vision had come to life. This was the Halloween he was looking for. This was what he had longed for. This was the culmination of everything he had worked for.

* * *

The candy monsters made their mark wherever the went in the Magic Kingdom, scaring residents and citizens alike.

In the Jungle Cruise, one of the skippers was touring guests as usual.

"Let me be the first to welcome to you to our Spooky Jungle Cruise. How do you guys like my skipper costume? I made it myself, hahaha!" the skipper said.

Just then, a giant taffy snake burst from out of the water, terrifying the skipper and the guests on the boat.

* * *

In New Orleans Square, Charlotte Le Bouff and her father were putting the finishing touches on a chocolate fountain.

"Alright boys, start it up!" Big Daddy.

A bunch of assistant pressed a button which made chocolate come out of the fountain, much to Lottie's delight.

"Oh, Big Daddy, it's marvelous! It's sure to big a big hit at Mickey's party tonight!" exclaimed Charlotte.

Suddenly, the fountain started to bubble and shake; then a large blob of chocolate emerged from the fountain and formed into the monster, letting out a big roar, and covering Lottie, Big Daddy, and the assistants with chocolate. They all screamed and ran in terror as the monster towered over them.

"On second thought, Big Daddy, maybe we should just stick to bringing shrimp cocktails!" said Lottie.

"Agreed!" said Big Daddy.

* * *

At the Country Bear Jamboree, the bears were playing Halloween tunes, when the chocolate walnut monster burst through the door and scared away all the guests.

But Big Jeb wasn't afraid, he stood toe to toe with the monster and gave big roar. But the monster retaliated with an even bigger roar that literally turned him into a cub.

* * *

In the shops of Main Street, dozens of lollipop creatures popped out and frightened customers.

* * *

From every corner of the Magic Kingdom; from left to right; up and down; every pirate ship, every tumbleweed, every treehouse, toonhouse, mouse house, and doll house; the candy creatures made their mark, delivering their sugar-coated terror upon any one they laid their eyes on.

Residents from all over the kingdom gathered in one spot on Main Street; shaking with fear from what they had just experienced. Catching their breaths, they stood silent for a moment, not a sound, not a word, and then...they laughed. Laughter from the fact that they were so scared by something out of the ordinary. The crowd turned to Jack Skellington and gave a thunderous applause. Truly, the Pumpkin King had outdone himself.

Skellington gave another bow, filled with pride by what he had accomplished before he jumped back onto the mayor's car. "Thank you! Thank you all! It has been my pleasure to entertain and scare you! I bid you all a fond farewell and Happy Halloween!" he said.

* * *

From Halloweentown, Sally, along with the other residents, looked upon the mystical well, rejoicing at Jack's success.

"Haha! Finklestien, you are a genius!" Finklestien said to himself.

Sally herself had to admit, things were looking pretty good as the monsters seemed to be a big hit with the people. With an assuring, she headed back with Finklestien to his lab.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Sally, there is nothing that science can't do. And that also applies to candy!" said Finklestien.

"Praise for the candy!" said Sally.

As the doctor went to his quarters, Sally noticed there was still some candy left from the experiments. She usually wasn't one for candy, she in this instance, she felt like having some and took a piece from the pile. But as she went to take a bite, the candy dissolved into a green muck. The young rag doll had never heard of candy doing this. For her, this could only mean one thing; it was a sign. But the question was, a sign of what?


	3. A Dark Vision

It seemed as though the citizens of the Magic Kingdom could not get enough of the candy monsters. Their faces were filled with fear and glee as the monsters entertained them at every turn. Some monsters were playfully scaring the kids and adults, while others were just playing with them.

Kids climbed on top of the candy corn monsters. Other kids were skipping around with the lollipop monsters.

Yes indeed, this Halloween looked to be a rather enjoyable one.

The one most proud of his work was Jack Skellington, who looked on from Halloweentown with massive pride. The edges of his lips curled to opposite ends of his skull, smiling with joy and delight, as well as chuckling heartily at what he had accomplished.

"Three cheers for Jack Skellington!" proclaimed the werewolf.

'Hip hip hurray!'

'Hip hip hurray!'

'Hip hip hurray!'

"Oh, Jack, darling! Clearly you have outshined yourself!" said the creature for the black lagoon.

"I bet no one will be wanting to eat candy anytime soon!" said one of the witches.

"Quite honestly, Jack, I must say, it's your finest work yet!" said the Mayor.

"Thank you, thank you! It was my pleasure. But I can't take all the credit. After all, I couldn't have done this without the help of the great Dr. Finklestien! In fact, I believe I'll go over there right now and commend him on a job well done!" said Jack.

The pumpkin king waved goodbye to the Halloweentowners before heading off to the lab.

"That Jack is really one in a million bones," said the Mayor.

* * *

In all his years, Jack had never felt as proud as he did now. Not even on that one year when he made snakes come out of an old lady's chicken pot pie. Jack was elated to thank the good doctor for his help as he knocked on his door a few times.

Soon, Finklestien answered the door and Jack shook his hand with force and feeling.

"Doctor, doctor, DOCTOR! You did great!" Jack exclaimed.

Finklestien's face beamed as Jack walked into his lab. "Oh, Jack. You're too much, it was your idea in the first place," he said.

In the midst of Jack and Finklestien's conversation, Sally saw them from the second floor and immediately called out to Jack.

"Hi Sally! Hey what do you say you and I go out on the kingdom?" Jack suggested.

"Yes, because you need to put a stop to this," said Sally.

"What do you mean?" asked Jack.

"I had a terrible vision. I took a piece of candy and it melted in my hand!" said Sally.

"Maybe you just had it in the sun too long," said Finklestien.

"No! It turned into a green goo and melted in my hand! Something bad is going to happen, Jack, I just know it," said Sally.

Jack could see the concern in Sally's eyes and decided that maybe it would be best to go see if things would turn out as bad as she said. "Alright, Sally. We'll go check things out," he said.

* * *

Jack and Sally arrived at Main Street and examined the activities that were going on. From the looks of things, so far, things seemed ok.

A group of the lollipop monsters were playfully frightening children, dancing around them in a ring-around-the-rosey type of manner.

The chocolate and walnut monsters were juggling children in the air.

Donald was trying his luck at actually scaring one of the monsters himself. "I'll show them. Nothing scares me," he said.

As he slowly tiptoed, he started hearing a brushling sound behind him. Quickly, he turned around, and discovered a large piece of taffy on the ground. Looking delicious, he picked it off the ground and prepared to eat it, but as he did, the taffy revealed itself to be a taffy snake and wrapped itself around him, making hissy sound that made him faint.

Jack chuckled. "Well, I guess we can't all have the Midas touch," Jack said, taking off one of his hands and making a finger pointing gesture with it.

"Jack, this is serious. Things seem alright now, but I think we should call the monsters off before they get bad," said Sally.

"Oh, but Sally, look how much fun they're having," said Jack.

But despite the calming atmosphere, at least as calming as it could get on Halloween, Sally still insisted that Jack call the monsters off.

Based on previous experience in regards to Sally's visions, Jack decided that perhaps she was right and gave a big whistle to all the monsters. "Attention monsters! I'm afraid the fun is over! Time to get going!" he shouted.

The children groaned in disappointment as the monsters rallied towards Sally and Jack who assured them they would be back next year.

One of the monsters, a candy corn monster, was making its way to Jack as well, when its eyes laid upon a child dressed up like a football player. The child reached into his bag, pulled out a piece of candy corn and ate it. Upon seeing this, the pupils in the candy corn monster's eyes shrunk and it let out a monstrous snarl. As the child ate more pieces of candy corn, the rage inside the monster grew until it pounced onto the child, roaring, exposing it sharp teeth.

The child screamed in horror as the monster lower its open jaw to his head, as it to eat him. But at the last second, Jack kicked the monster off of the child.

But this was only the beginning. Some chocolate blob monster noticed a bunch of kids eating chocolate bars and began smothering them in a rather aggressive way.

The lollipop creatures reacted the same way after seeing some children biting on lollipops, taking it upon themselves to bite them.

As the monsters saw more and more kids and adults eating candy, it was as if something was triggered inside of them, making them more violent, more aggressive, more terrifying, more monstrous.

"Oh no, it's happening. Just as I feared," said Sally.

"Well this certainly is a pickle," Jack said subtly.

Since Finklestien was responsible for creating the monsters, Sally figured he would know what was going on. Jack agreed and the two rushed back to Halloweentown in the hopes of getting answers from the doctor.


End file.
